Social media is one of the tools of police work

Now is the right time to assess what the next phase of the police’s presence on social media should look like. Police communications must always serve the core mission of the police. Instead of pursuing visibility, the goal is to achieve impact, writes the National Police Commissioner.

The police have been active on social media for 18 years. During that time, the communications environment has changed fundamentally. Social media has become an established part of everyday police work and has proven its value as an important means of reaching the public quickly, sharing information, preventing crime and enhancing safety.

However, now is the right time to assess what the next phase of the police’s presence on social media should look like.

The starting point is simple: police communications must always serve the core mission of the police. The purpose of communications is to increase safety, provide accurate information, support crime prevention and strengthen public trust in the police. For the police, social media is not an end in itself but a tool.

This also means that not everything needs to be said and not everything needs to be published. Every message must have a clear purpose. Instead of pursuing visibility, the objective is to achieve impact. Above all, the public expects police communications to be professional, reliable and appropriate.

Recent public debate has also highlighted another important issue. Individual incidents understandably provoke strong reactions. If shortcomings are identified in police actions, they must be investigated thoroughly and addressed appropriately. This is part of the way the rule of law and the police operate.

At the same time, care should be taken not to draw conclusions about the entire organisation based on individual cases. Thousands of police officers work in Finland, carrying out their duties professionally, ethically and with a strong sense of responsibility every day. A single case does not define the police as a whole.

Public debate and the media play an important role in a society governed by the rule of law. An independent and critical media strengthens democracy and also holds authorities accountable. At the same time, I hope that discussions will remain measured, proportionate and based on facts. Trust is built on careful consideration of facts, not on hasty conclusions.

However, our focus is above all on the future.

There is room for individuality within the police. It makes us human and approachable. But we do not build personal brands. We build a strong and unified police organisation whose voice remains trustworthy regardless of who delivers the message.

A common voice does not mean uniformity. It means shared values, shared operating principles and shared responsibility. Every police officer can, in their own way, strengthen public trust, but the message must always serve the core mission of the police.

This is also what the next phase of the police’s social media presence is about. Less pursuit of visibility. More meaning and impact. When the police speak, they should speak about matters that matter: matters that improve safety, help people and strengthen trust in the police.

This is the direction in which we want to develop police communications together.

Ilkka Koskimäki
National Police Commissioner

The translation draft was prepared with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by an expert.